Why does this matter? On Earth, nearly everywhere we find water, we find life. Thickness estimates range from 2 to 20 miles (3 to 30 kilometers). ~ 2 billion cubic miles (~ 3 billion cubic kilometers)Ģ9 percent land and 71 percent liquid water ~ 870 million cubic miles (~ 1.4 billion cubic kilometers) It's an ocean that is probably more vast in depth and volume than our own ocean. Europa Compared to EarthĮuropa's global ocean may have been in existence for billions of years. The moon of Jupiter and the continent of Europe are named after her. In Greek mythology, Europa was a mortal who became a princess of Crete after Cupid hit Zeus (the Greek version of Jupiter) with an arrow and he fell under Europa’s spell. Like Earth, Europa is thought to also contain a rocky mantle and iron core. The moon’s ice shell is probably 10 to 15 miles (15 to 25 kilometers) thick, beneath which the ocean is estimated to be 40 to 100 miles (60 to 150 kilometers) deep. Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa’s water-ice surface is crisscrossed by long, linear fractures, cracks, ridges and bands. It may be the most promising place in our solar system to find present-day environments suitable for some form of life beyond Earth. Scientists are almost certain that hidden beneath the icy surface of Europa is a saltwater ocean thought to contain about twice as much water as Earth’s global ocean. Today Europa continues to challenge how we think about the universe and our place in it. The discovery disproved the common belief that Earth was the center of all motion in the heavens. The mission plan includes 45 flybys, during which the spacecraft would image the moon's icy surface at high resolution and investigate its composition and the structure of its interior and icy shell.When Galileo Galilei discovered Europa and Jupiter’s three other large moons - Io, Ganymede and Callisto - more than 400 years ago, he revolutionized humanity’s view of the universe. The spacecraft would orbit the giant planet about every two weeks, providing many opportunities for close flybys of Europa. Io, Callisto and Ganymede are the others.Īccording to NASA: "The mission plan calls for a spacecraft to be launched to Jupiter in the 2020s, arriving in the distant planet's orbit after a journey of several years. "Observations of Europa have provided us with tantalizing clues over the last two decades, and the time has come to seek answers to one of humanity's most profound questions."Įuropa is one of Jupiter's four largest natural satellites, known as Galilean moons because they were so large that Galileo Galilei was able to see them circa 1610 in one of the world's first crude telescopes. " taking an exciting step from concept to mission, in our quest to find signs of life beyond Earth," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. In an announcement on Wednesday, the space agency said its mission concept for a Europa probe had completed its first major review and was now entering the development phase. NASA has moved a step closer to sending a probe to one of Jupiter's "Galilean" moons, Europa, which is believed to contain a vast liquid ocean that could harbor life underneath an icy surface crust. NASA says a new probe dedicated to studying the Jovian moon, is going into the development phase. An image of Europa released by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in 1996 by the Galileo spacecraft.
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